Muscle is your super power in midlife.
Training for your summer body? Hell no, we’re training for our old lady body: dense bones, strong muscles, a healthy heart, good balance, and functional independence.
As most people age, they lose muscle mass and strength – a condition called sarcopenia. How much muscle is lost varies from person to person, but without significant intervention, most women lose 3 to 8% per decade, starting in their 40s, which is why we're talking about it. Any illness or injury that stops you from doing your day-to-day activities, even briefly, can accelerate muscle loss. Due to menopause, sarcopenia in women tends to progress earlier and more rapidly until about age 80, when men finally catch up.
Muscle is very easy to lose, especially once you hit the menopause transition. Many women only become aware of this in their 40s, as they start to feel that they no longer recognize their bodies, describing them as softer, rounder, and less responsive to exercise. Sarcopenia can sneak up on people because early muscle loss is subtle – lifting familiar items may become challenging and short walks may feel longer.
Another early skill people lose is the ability to sit on the floor and get up without using hands or knees. In later stages of sarcopenia, many women can struggle climbing stairs, getting in and out of cars, lifting groceries, and walking long distances. When daily tasks become tough, the risk of falls increases. Muscle are also super important for blood sugar regulation, and sarcopenia increases the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Why does it happen?
Muscles are made of thousands of long, protein-rich cells called muscle fibres that exist in a constant state of breakdown and rebuilding due to the strain of physical activity. To some degree, muscle loss is a natural part of ageing, but it’s also down to declining hormones. In women, both oestrogen and testosterone are anabolic hormones, which means that they support building muscle. Without them, muscle fibres can shrink and some disappear.
Also, muscles can accumulate fatty stores due to menopausal weight gain. Because fat deposits can’t contract, they stiffen muscles and make them weaker. At the same time, nerve and blood vessel densities in muscles decrease, making muscles less responsive. So, if you’re more fat than muscle, regardless of your size, you are at higher risk.
Other menopausal and age-related conditions can worsen sarcopenia. Older women may have smaller appetites and often don’t eat enough protein to support their muscles. Menopause often causes low levels of chronic, body-wide inflammation, which accelerates tissue breakdown. Many perimenopausal symptoms also impact our ability or motivation to exercise. Who wants to work out after a night of disrupted sleep?
What you can do.
Weight training. In lieu of the muscle-building stimulus oestrogen and testosterone give us, we need to look for it elsewhere. This is where weights come in. Using an exercise program incorporating weighted resistance training – dumbbells, gym equipment or resistance bands – two to three times a week (every week) can be nothing short of transformative. Yoga, hiking & walking don’t count, they are simply added bonuses. You need to lift heavy stuff and put it down again. If you’ve never lifted weights, don’t overthink it, just start. It might be hard at the beginning (especially if you’re traditionally a cardio bunny) but you just keep going. Start small and build up. We need to challenge muscle and keep challenging it (it’s called progressive overload) to ensure its stimulated to grow. To get tangible results, you need to slowly increase the intensity and load you’re lifting. Trust me, your brain, heart, hormones and bones will thank you for it. Not just tomorrow, but in the years to come. By the way, we’re not talking hour long sessions here. Start with just 10 or 15 minutes and work up.
YouTube is a great source of free workouts with dumbbell options. www.youtube.com/@CarolineGirvan is one of my favourites. If you’re new to weights, be sure to go at your own pace and always warm up and stretch to cool down. Without the buffering effects of oestrogen on our muscles, tendons and ligaments, we’re more prone to injury.
Book in a few sessions with a personal trainer, who is experienced working with midlife women, to nail the basics and build confidence.
Dismiss any fears around bulking up – you won’t (ask any body builder, it’s just not that easy).
Include a good quality protein with every meal. Women in late menopause need a lot of protein to support muscle health. Protein sources: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, Greek yoghurt and a mix of legumes, tofu, tempeh, nuts & seeds.
Get your Vitamin D checked. Optimal Vitamin D (100-120nmol/L) helps increase muscle fibre numbers and muscle fibre size, increases protein synthesis, decreases inflammation, decreases intramuscular fat, and increases lean muscle mass and strength.
Eat your phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens, plant-derived compounds that mimic oestrogen in the body, may help slow age-related muscle loss during menopause. A study found that women who consumed 70mg of isoflavones (a type of phytoestrogen) daily for 24 weeks significantly increased their lean muscle mass. Good sources include tofu, tempeh and edamame beans.
Get mobile. If you’ve noticed it’s harder to get up and down off the floor without help, read Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully. A great resource you can use anywhere.
For older women, building muscle mass and strength can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Muscle loss is not inevitable - with time and effort, sarcopenia can be lessened or reversed. For anyone worried about having left it too late, Denise Kirtley @fiftyfitnessjourney didn’t begin lifting weights until her late 40s. If she can do it, you can too. It won’t happen overnight, but with patience and persistence you will get there. My advice? Trust the process, but try to enjoy it too, and remember that hard work pays off. Share this with someone who might also be interested. It’s always good to have an accountability partner.
Bobbie X